Barbara Plummer, Residential Street Program Coordinator

Most Popular

Most Recent

Residential Streets Program

View of a shared residential street design
All street users have the benefit of sharing paved roadways

The Problem

There are about 50 miles of unpaved dirt and gravel streets in the City of Portland and most of these are on residential streets. Unimproved streets provide poor accessibility, particularly for pedestrians, and can reduce neighborhood livability.

Adjacent property owners are responsible for building new or improving existing residential streets, either as a requirement of infill development or through a Local Improvement District (LID).

Infill development happens sporadically and often these improvements are left disconnected from the rest of the street system. It can take many years for infill development to complete the connections.

Additionally, few dirt and gravel streets are being improved through LID's. The typical cost of a traditional residential street improvement, including curbs, sidewalks on both sides of the street and a stormwater system, can be out of reach for some property owners.

A new approach was needed to help pave these streets and get pedestrians, bicyclists, vehicles and residents up out of the mud and gravel.

The Solution

To make it easier for property owners to improve dirt and gravel streets with at least an asphalt surface, the Bureau of Transportation developed new design standards intended to lower the cost of improvements. Streets that meet the following minimum criteria may qualify for the new design options:

The street must be:

Zoned for single family residential development (R5-R7)

Classified as a “Local Street” for all modes in the Transportation System Plan (TSP).